This invention relates to devices for the opening of containers and more particularly relates to a vial sealing cap remover.
Many vials are manufactured having a seal created by a rubber-like plug inserted into the opening of the vial held securely in place by a metallic sealing cap. Such vials are common in medical applications. Usually their sealing caps can be manually removed by first inserting one's fingernail under the sealing cap's central lift tab, prying it upwards, and then grasping the lift tab and tearing it away from the vial thereby breaking one or more partially scored areas in the cap's ring section which is sealed around the plug and lip of the vial. In one type of vial one can then remove the remainder of the sealing cap's ring section and lift the plug out of the mouth of the vial thereby gaining access to the contents of the vial. In vials containing injectable fluids the plug and ring section are left in place and one inserts a syringe needle through the plug to extract the vial's contents.
Some individuals lack the manual dexterity required or proper fingernail length and such individuals may encounter great difficulty in opening such sealing caps. Further the metallic sealing cap often twists in a ragged fashion exposing sharp thin edges which can cut both the individual attempting to remove the sealing cap and others who may come in contact with carelessly discarded caps.
There is currently a plier-like device made for the specific purpose of cutting the metallic sealing caps of such vials, but such device has the twofold disadvantage in that it may be moved from place to place and may not always be readily available when one wishes to open a vial, and the device requires manual dexterity to insert it under the metallic sealing cap's lift tab.